One Day
by Uncolored186
Summary: Post-Chapter 10. One day, she would have to try to express herself better, or she would lose an important person. One-shot.


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**One Day**

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Cool, calm and collected. That was the image Lighting Farron created for herself. After her parents' death, she had to be strong for her sister Serah, and thus, the new name. To provide for the only family she had left, she joined Guardian Corps. Now, even after years of training, she was not known to have patience with idiots. Her commands were direct and blunt, never beating around the bush, so to speak.

In everyone's eyes, Lighting was, indeed, a brave soldier. However, she had difficulties in expressing herself and her feelings. One day, she would have to try to express herself better, or she would lose an important person.

And that day finally came…

Things were relatively normal for the group, or as normal as one could get since their arrival on Gran Pulse. At first, Lighting had decided to brush the sign off, thinking it was normal and nothing serious. Oh, how wrong she was. Because of an unknown reason, Hope Estheim, the 14-year-old boy she had promised to protect, suddenly hero-worshipped Oerba Yun Fang. Well, at least that was what she thought. Yet, as days passed by, she knew that she was clearly wrong with her assumption.

Lighting realised her mistake when Hope started spending time alone with Fang. Whenever they came back from Maker knew where, the silver-blond-haired teenager always looked flustered with an adorable blush on his young face and even messier hair. As expected, a weakness called curiosity showed its ugly head. What in the name of Maker were they doing to make him so… she didn't even want to finish that question in her head! Nowadays, Hope even avoided looking at her in the eye. His answers were often short and curt, so unlike the Hope she knew.

Looking across of the burning campfire, Light withheld the urge to push Fang away when the dark-haired woman leaned closer to Hope and whispered something into his ear. Whatever Fang said had triggered another series of blushes on his face. Still, Hope nodded to the woman as they both left the campsite. To see how Fang was so familiar with Hope annoyed her _deeply_. Hope was supposedly close to her. He was _hers_! Fang should—her clear blue eyes slightly widened. Did she really think Hope was hers? She quickly shook her head mentally. No, no, no. She absolutely didn't think that!

Unnoticed by her, three pair of eye was watching her carefully. Sazh looked at her with a thoughtful look, and Snow was trying to hold back a grin.

As for Vanille, she was trying hard not to go after Fang and reported what she and the others saw. Their plan had worked. Hope would be happy, and personally, she thought that it was about time! This charade had actually started over a week ago when Fang pulled her and Hope away from the group to have a moment to talk. She was utterly shocked when Fang suddenly told Hope to back off.

_"Fang!" Her face was as red as cherries._

_Hope was, of course, shocked beyond words. "W-what?"_

_Fang narrowed her eyes. "One more time, Kid. I say, back off. Vanille is mine. I won't let you take her from me."_

_Heat crept upon the emerald-eyed boy's face. It was not because of embarrassment, though. "Vanille is a good friend to me! The one I like is Lighting!"_

_She and Fang were surprised that the usually timid boy could actually yell at them. What surprised them more was his confession although both were sure it was unintentional._

_Hope, who seemed to realise his mistake, looked away, totally embarrassed. He groaned while wishing the ground would swallow him up and save him from the current predicament. This was definitely not his day._

_Fang laughed out loud then. "Way to go, Kid!"_

_If possible, the redness on his face turned deeper. Now, Hope didn't know what to say. He had wanted to keep his feelings hidden from everyone, especially from Lighting._

_Vanille, who seemed to know his line of thought, moved closer and hugged him. "Don't worry, Hope… we won't tell Lighting about this."_

_Fang agreed with Vanille by ruffling his hair. "Not a word, Kid."_

_Hope frowned. "Will you please stop calling me that?"_

_Fang grinned. "What? Aren't you still a kid?"_

_Slightly frustrated, he pulled away from Vanille and stepped a few paces away from them. To be honest, he didn't want to be treated as a kid. He held no doubt that Lighting saw and treated him as one, though. It was a hopeless love to begin with. He knew that, but he couldn't help it. A melancholy look took over his face._

_Vanille glared at Fang with a fix-that look._

_Fang chuckled uncomfortably before sighing. She approached Hope and hugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry about that, Hope."_

_Hope let out a small, sad smile. "It's okay. You're right… I'm still a kid. Lighting probably—no, she definitely won't look at me differently."_

_"Hey! Don't be so gloomy!" she said this while squeezing him closer._

_Vanille rubbed her chin. "If only we know how she feels…"_

_Then, Fang grinned mischievously. "I know just what we should do…"_

_Hope looked up at her. "What do you mean?"_

_Vanille, who caught her mischief grin, suddenly regretted saying her thoughts aloud. "Fang…"_

_Fang ignored her as her eyes fixated on Hope. "So? Do you want to know what her feelings for you?"_

_He scrunched his eyebrows. "I do… but, I wish to—"_

_Fang never gave him the chance to hesitate and explained that this was his best chance since no other soldiers around. He had the advantage of gaining Lighting's full attention. Hope, realising Fang did have a point, reluctantly agreed to hear her out. Of course, after hearing her plan to make Lighting jealous, Hope had disagreed to go through with it. He thought that it was unmanly to know her feelings through jealousy. However, Fang insisted that they should go for it as there was no harm in it._

_"Don't you want to know her feelings?" Fang raised an eyebrow._

_"W-well… if you put it that way…"_

Thus, here they were, executing their plan. Vanille was tasked to observe Lighting every time Fang and Hope left the campsite to train, unknown to Lighting. For the first three days with no progress, Hope was ready to drop the whole thing, but Fang kept encouraging him. It took a lot to break the wall of someone's heart, especially Lighting's. In the end, Fang revised their plan, thinking they might have missed something as Vanille couldn't watch Lighting all the time without being obvious.

Moreover, despite their time together, they didn't know much about Lighting. The pink-haired ex-soldier rarely shared anything private with them. So, instead of relying on Vanille's observation alone, they had decided to drag Snow and Sazh along in their plan. As expected, everyone, except for Lighting, had noticed Hope's feelings. To say Hope turned into a steamed crab after hearing their speculations would be an understatement. But of course, both men readily helped them.

Vanille jolted out from her musings when she saw Lighting get up. "Light?"

Lighting spared her a sideways glance. "I'm going for a walk."

"Okay… be careful out there," Venille replied and earned a short nod from her.

Vanille, Snow and Sazh exchanged knowing looks as they saw Lighting walk in the opposite direction.

When they were sure Lighting was out of earshot, Snow grinned broadly. "I can't believe it actually worked!"

Vanille returned his grin with her own. "Now, it's up to her to approach Hope."

"I second that." Sazh nodded. "All we have to do now is wait and see."

-:-

Hope was entirely unsure, or most probably nervous, when Lighting suddenly asked if he had a moment. Not one to refuse her request, he had said yes. Then, he let her guide them away from their base camp. Without Light's knowledge, he had gotten thumbs up from everyone. He felt encouraged and knew that it was time to tell Lighting about his feelings.

"Do you still remember our promise, Hope?"

His emerald orbs found her blue ones. He nodded. "Yes. We promise to protect one another."

Lighting looked away, not wanting to look at his face as what she wanted to say was surely going to hurt him. "I wish to take back that promise."

Hope was utterly unprepared for such declaration. Eyes widened, he stuttered, "W-what? W-why?"

"I'm sorry," she muttered and walked away.

Hope, however, caught her wrist, stopping her from leaving. His momentary panic state turned into anger instead. He thought that he deserved better than _I'm sorry_. If he did something wrong, he would make it up to her. "I deserve to know why!"

Lighting, who was not even happy before the conversation started, snatched her hand back and glared at him. "I answer to no one, especially not to a child like you!"

Hope stumbled backward, as if he had been punched in the gut. He knew that cold eyes. It was as if they were back at the Vile Peaks all over again. Shutting his eyes, he tried very hard to ignore the stinging pain on his brand. Once he opened his eyes, he raised his gaze to hers and muttered, "I understand…"

It took everything in Lighting not to flinch as she saw the raw pain in his green eyes. It looked so painful that she could feel it herself. How she wished she could take back her words. She honestly didn't want to take back her promise but seeing him so close with Fang, she felt that it would be better for him to have Fang as his protector. Besides, as much as it pained her to think about it, Hope might like the Pulsian woman as more than a friend. The signs were too obvious. Last night, she had also realised her own feelings for him. She didn't like it, but she had decided to let him go.

"Will I ever be good enough for you, Light?" His voice was above a whisper. He then turned around and left her alone without a second glance.

His last words kept replaying like a broken record within her mind. Shortly after, realisation dawned on her. Hope was actually trying to tell her his feelings for her. It was all a misunderstanding. She didn't know how long she stood there, but eventually, she went back to their camp with a heavy heart. Every eye turned to her, and that was when she noticed something, or someone, was missing. _Hope._

Before she could open her mouth, Vanille asked, "Where's Hope, Light?"

It was then, an earthquake occurred. The ground shook so strongly for a short moment. The group exchanged worried looks before they rushed to the source. They all knew the sign. Alexander, Hope's Eidolon, had been summoned, which only meant the boy was in trouble. However, much to their relief and confusion, they found the boy sleeping in the palm of the giant golem.

"Well… if the big guy is here, he should be fine by himself," Sazh commented offhandedly.

Vanille nodded with a smile. "Definitely. Maybe we should probably go back to the camp. Hope can join us in the morning."

They had wanted to approach Hope to see if he was okay, but Alexander had a different idea as the golem refused to let them get any closer.

-:-

Whatever happened between Hope and Lighting was huge. Everyone was sure of that. Hope had changed so drastically that it seemed his former self was gone without a trace. The only one who could pull even a tiny smile from him was Vanille. His speech, too, had changed. The way he spoke made them feel that they were talking to a stranger instead of a friend. Additionally, the tension in the air was so thick whenever Lighting was around. Everyone felt that someone had to do something before everything fell apart.

"Fang…" Vanille looked at the Pulsian woman worriedly.

"Yeah, I know," she muttered quietly. She, too, was clueless of what to do.

"If this is what Sis has planned, I have to say it works perfectly well." Snow's usual happy face was solemn.

"Well, soldier girl is someone who can't express herself well. It might be just a misunderstanding," said Sazh with chocobo chick that chirped in agreement.

Fang frowned. "Still, she has gone too far this time."

Snow and Sazh exchanged confused looks before Snow asked, "What do you mean?"

It was Vanille, who answered them with sad eyes, "Hope… his brand has gone to the next stage…"

Both men were speechless.

"W-what? W-when did that happen?" Snow was panicked now.

"Why do think Alexander refused to let us near Hope that night?" Vanille's question did make them stop and think.

"Alexander must have felt the turmoil in Hope and came to protect him, which means…" Fang paused before continuing, "whatever Light said to Hope had given him a rather nasty shock."

"Does Sis know this?"

Fang sighed. "Didn't you notice Hope had covered his brand entirely with his handkerchief? Obviously, Hope knew what happened to him, and he didn't want anyone to know about it. He probably didn't want us to worry as well."

"Then, how do you know about his brand?" asked Sazh.

Vanille answered him, "It was I who told Hope about it…"

All was quiet after that. Neither knew what to say or do for that matter.

It was only Fang who realised someone had heard their conversation. A flash of pink told her it was none other than Lighting. Her eyes trained to where the ex-soldier had left. _Fix this before you lose him forever, Light._

-:-

The sun was coming up, but two of their fellow l'Cie were not back yet. Nevertheless, they waited. Even after they finished their morning meal, they waited. Just when they wanted to look for them, they saw Hope and Lighting approached their camp. Smiles broke on their faces when they saw those two holding hands. It seemed whatever problem they had had been solved. Snow wanted to comment on Lighting's red, swollen lips but was stopped by her famous glare.

"Everything's okay?" Vanille had a big smile on her face.

Lighting looked away to hide her blossoming blush while Hope nodded. "Yes. Are you guys ready to go?"

Everyone nodded as they continued their journey to Oerba Village. They had wanted to ask them a lot of question but refrained themselves as there was no need to ruin the good mood between the new couple. They then let the couple take the rear so that they could be left alone without being watched.

Lighting turned to Hope, who was smiling happily beside her. Her heart still ached whenever she remembered what she had done to him. Still, she was glad to have had a chance to fix the mess.

_"Hope."_

_The said boy stiffened. Obviously, he had been too deep in thought to notice her presence._

_"You would have been dead by now if—"_

_"I didn't know you care." His voice was cold._

_She could have smacked herself for saying the wrong thing at this point. It was just out of habit. In her mind, safety always came first. Sighing inaudibly, she looked at his stiff back. He seemed determined to not look at her._

_Before she could open her mouth again, he stated. "Leave me alone."_

_He didn't give her a chance to answer as he added, "If you wish to apologise, then I will tell you that you're forgiven."_

_'It was now or never,' she said to herself before moving forward and hugged him from behind. If possible, he went even stiffer, but thankfully, he did not try to pull away. Softly, she told him, "You are too good for someone like me, Hope. We don't know what the future may hold, but if we survive this fight, you deserve someone much better than me. I'm too—"_

_"You don't understand, do you?" he interrupted quietly. "I don't care what other people might say or think."_

_"..."_

_"I only want you and no one else," he stated softly._

_She closed her eyes and hugged him tightly before muttering, "If that is what you want, never think that I don't want you..."_

_When she released him, he slowly turned around. Their eyes locked for a long time. Eyes that were emotionless before were openly showing what they felt for each other. He reached up and caressed her face. She unashamedly leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. Just for this moment, she would be herself. She would be Claire._

_"I love you so much, Light."_

_After his confession, everything passed in a blur. All that she knew and felt was his love through his gentle touch. Before the night ended, she let him have all of her, including her heart, just as he gave all of himself to her. When morning came, both were determined to finish their mission as soon as possible. They wanted to start anew after all was over._

Hope, who seemed to feel his girlfriend's eyes on him, looked at her. "What is it?"

Lighting, brought back to reality, shook her head in answer. "Nothing."

His green eyes filled with love and adoration. "I love you."

The way he said those three little words were enough to make Lighting, including the rest of the group who also heard his confession, blush. It held so much conviction that no one would doubt or question his sincerity.

Light could never say those words aloud to him, but she knew he knew that she felt the same. She let out a small smile and squeezed his hand. "I know."

Hope seemed to be fine with her answer as he gave her a bright smile. To him, all was well in the world now.

Light knew that, one day, she would be able to say those three little words to him.

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**The End**

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**A/N:** Thanks for reading. Please kindly review before you leave. :)


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